For the second straight season, the Auburn Trojans girls basketball team is headed to the district championship after a 57-27 victory over Emerald Ridge on Feb. 19 at Auburn High School.

The Trojans’ 30-point rout of the Jaguars is the second time the Auburn has held a team to under 30 points this postseason. The Auburn defense has been stout — even in their one close game this postseason against Tahoma, the Trojans held the Bears to 41 points, their third fewest total all season.

A simple acronym helped the Trojans defense lock down the Jaguars the entire game.

“KYP. Know your person. Ari was doing very good on number #11. She was being physical and beating her to spots. Avery was doing very good on their point guard. It just disrupted their flow. We were talking and collapsing on the girls we needed to,” Head Coach Jessica Hansen said.

“We told ourselves the keys to the game were defense and rebounding. If we limited them to one shot, we figured we’d have a good shot,” Hansen added.

In the first half, Auburn’s defense reigned supreme, holding the Jaguars to just 11 points and three in the second quarter. Kaleesa Howard and Avery Hansen played a big part in that as they played uber-aggressive on ball defense. Their synergy on the court is the difference between a steal and a lay-in, or foul trouble for the both of them.

“They read off each other, they trust each other. They know if one is going, the other needs to go. They’ve played together for a while and both are really aggressive and quick. I don’t think there is anyone they can’t guard,” Hansen said.

Emerald Ridge came out with a ton of energy and talked some smack to Auburn players. But the Trojans are not a team to back down as Hansen and Ari Deloney were right there with some choice words of their own. Deloney likes playing in these types of environments — and no doubt she will see more of them as the postseason continues on.

“I feel like it fires me up. It makes me more angry and mad so I want to do more. I like it,” Deloney said.

Howard had nine first quarter points that really set up the Trojans for success, and combined with Morgan Richardson scoring eight in the second quarter, Auburn had a 35-11 lead at halftime.

“I feel like starting fast is one of the most important parts of the games. It brings our energy up and everybody is more confident and hype,” Deloney said.

Deloney developed a very strong presence beyond the three-point arch, but against the Jags, she played down inside the paint and found herself around the basket a lot more. That has been a point of emphasis for the Trojan coaching staff to get Deloney inside.

“She did a really good job finishing attacking, drawing extra defenders. I see that as a big part of our game moving forward,” Hansen said.

Auburn was up by such a large margin, in a semifinal game, that they were able to substitute their entire bench into the game with over four minutes left in the contest. Sophomore Jordyn Schoenbachler scored five points in that span.

This Auburn team has vengeance on its mind and has zero seniors on this current roster. As a team that is poised to make a deep run, the players have learned a lot about themselves during this three-game playoff run.

“I feel like we learn to trust each other a lot,” Deloney said.

Keep in mind, they are the sixth seed. But the Trojans are playing like they are state title contenders and that is because they are, in fact, state title contenders.

“We were able to learn a lot in different scenarios. We had so many opportunities to learn in close games… We are peaking at the right time,” Hansen said.

The Trojans take on Camas in the championship game of the district tournament Feb. 22 along with the boys, who also will be taking on the Papermakers. The boys are the first game and the girls follow it up during the nightcap.

“It’s a unique opportunity, we are blessed to have it and excited for it. This is fun, we want to keep it rolling,” Hansen said.

“We are really looking forward to it,” Deloney said.

Kaleesa Howard drives to the basket against Emerald Ridge. Ben Ray / The Reporter